Dress For Success Provides Job Readiness Beyond the Resume

Assessment Training Offers Women Newfound Economic Independence

Job seekers have a number of options to find gainful employment. But for those whose situations extend beyond finding their next job and paycheck, many looking to get back on their feet have been fortunate to draw inspiration and strength from an unlikely source.

For the past four years, Alexandra Marcovitch, founder of Alexandra & Associates, has been giving back to Dress For Success®, Palm Beaches, one of 140 affiliates of Dress For Success® worldwide. This global nonprofit, now in 19 countries, provides opportunities for women to achieve economic independence through interview suiting, career development tools and a network of support.

A longtime Value Added Associate, Marcovitch knew the hundreds of down-on-their-luck women benefiting from Dress For Success’s services over the years required more assistance to re-enter the job market — many are trying to land jobs for the first time in their lives — beyond a resume, cover letter and mentorship.

“If you’re looking for a job, you need to be the candidate whom recruiters and hiring managers believe they cannot do without,” she said. “DISC is a tool that lets these women know they have special gifts, and it lets them know that on every page of the report.”

Through the introduction of TTI Success Insights’TriMetrix® HD assessment, which provides a detailed understanding of how someone behaves, the why behind their decision-making, and rank orders a list of 25 skills, a new corner has been turned.

Today, the 15 to 20 women taking part in Marcovitch’s 10-week seminar, offered three times annually, now have the tools in place to sell themselves during job interviews. They also have a better understanding of “how unique, extraordinary and valuable they are” as people, Marcovitch says.

But the reason why we have such a great rate of hiring is because we understand, until these women know what makes them unique and how they can sell themselves in an interview, then these tools are superfluous.

The assessment training is a real differentiator for the agency.

According to Wilde, an estimated 52 percent to 71 percent of all women taking part in Marcovitch’s assessment training have found employment prior to course completion or within 60 days of graduation. This success rate includes women ages 18 to 79, some of whom are looking for their first jobs. They often are able to negotiate their own pay.

“But you can’t achieve this [overall measure of success] unless you have the confidence to understand who you are and what it is you have to offer,” Wilde said.

An ordained interfaith minister, Marcovitch believes these women ultimately feel more empowered as people after the assessment training, because they’re able to more fully explain why they would be a good fit for a job. The profile gives them a powerful and effective way to express it.

When we have women stand up at graduation and say, ‘I came here looking for a job, but what I found is myself,’ that’s enormous.

“Anybody can learn cover letter and resume writing, and how to present themselves during an interview, but it’s having that belief," Wilde said. "Once they understand themselves more fully, they then can track which jobs and career paths are more suited to them.”

To that end, Marcovitch believes there are no better tools than TTI’s DISC and 12 Driving Forces assessments that “speak to the whole person” and provide the muscle for these eager prospective job seekers to ace their interviews.

“Understanding our unique gifts as individuals is essential to our success in life, and that includes finding jobs that match our skill sets,” Marcovitch said. “I think DISC is one of the easiest tools to quickly showcase not only how valuable we are as people, but also how valuable we are when trying to re-enter the workforce.”